Visitation Rights
by jrba95
Summary: Mai visits Azula in the asylum. Neither of the girls are as heartless as they seem. Deep look into Azula's psyche. Sensitive one-shot!


**Visitation Rights**

"_One little firefly buzzing in the sky_

_The dragon said 'munch' and 'bye-bye fly'_

_Two little turtle ducks swimming in the muck_

_The dragon said 'yum' and 'just my luck'_

_Three little phoenix, just baby chicks_

_The dragon said…"_

Azula wiggled her toes up the dank cinderblock walls of the solitary cell as she sang her tune. Her voice was a high whisper, and was singing only for herself. Nowadays she was her own best friend. "No, that's how it's always been," she chastised herself. "They all hate you. Mai and Ty Lee were idiots. You hate them, you hope they die, they were never your friends. They hate you, they never liked you, you hate them, you hate them, you hate them. I love you Azula. You are my best friend Azula. I love you Azula. Forget about stupid Mai and stupid Ty Lee and stupid Zuko and stupid Mom and stupid Avatar and the whole stupid world."

Her feet scaled higher and higher on the wall, and her raggedy trousers slipped around her hips. She relished the clammy slime on the wall as it squished through her toes. In the darkness of her cell, she stood on her head with perfect poise, and squint her eyes to peer through the crack on the bottom of the door. There was a dim white light sneaking into her cell and it pierced her eyes like the brightest sunlight. Azula closed her eyes dreamily and inhaled the light, imagining herself on the sparkling beaches of Ember Island. She pictured the searing sand and sun wrapping around her like a blanket. She was surrounded in light; free from the darkness, concrete, and metal that she had called home these past few months.

She was surrounded in light; she was glowing; she was a shining star. Azula's mouth peeled open and emitted a tinkling laugh. All the while on her head, she stretched out her arms around her and let herself soak in the sunlight. She laughed and bellowed and dangled her arms through her scraggly hair and the dirty floor. Her fingertips caressed the floor like a lover, tracing fire that lingered only momentarily on the concrete. Her hair was singed slightly, but she ignored it.

She laughed and sang and fire burst from her fingertips. The walls and metal door were whipped with flames so hot they appeared almost white. Azula marveled at the white light that was ripping through her cell, squealing with delight. "I am the sun," she screamed. "I AM THE SUUUN!" She screamed so hard her throat felt as if it had been scratched by a raptor-monkey.

Her ears reverberated when there was a massive pounding on the wrought iron door. Startled, she collapsed to the ground in a heap. As soon as she stopped screaming and bending fire all around her space, the incessant banging ceased as well.

"Shut up, you crazy witch! And if you firebend one more time, we'll douse you with water until you drown!"

"Manchu! She's a patient; Go get Doctor Umbai," an exhasperated voice pleaded to the first.

But Azula didn't hear her jailors nagging at her. They did it so often every day that she had learned to tune them out long ago. "I am the sun," she breathed to the ground, softly as if she were consoling a small child. "I am the sun. I am the sun. I am the sun…._One little firefly buzzing in the sky…"_

She didn't know what the day was. It was impossible for her to even tell if it were day or night. Azula thirsted for the sun like a tiger for meat. The darkness had squeezed of the sun's power out of her like a dried sponge. That was the point, she had heard her jailor sneer at her. She was too wild to be kept that powerful. Day by day, Azula lay on the cold ground being suffocated by the darkness. But whenever she shut her eyes she could see the sun on the backs of her eyelids, enabling her to breathe again. "I am the sun," she would whisper.

Once a week they would take her for a walk around the asylum corridor a couple times. Her hands and feet would be bound and they would sedate her at the first sign of sparks. If she did any firebending at all then next week's walk would be suspended. Once a week she would bathe in with a metal bucket they delivered into her room. Three times a day she would eat only enough food to keep her alive. Twice a day the indifferent Doctor Umbai would sneer at her, ask her a few questions regarding her life, and wait for her cutting responses. And once a day Mai would visit her.

"I hate Mai. Stupid Mai," Azula would mumble to herself and to the sun behind her eyes. "Who does she think she is? She stabbed me in the back, and then she thinks she's doing me a favor by showing her ugly face around here! Mai was never my friend; she was a tool! She means nothing to me."

Yet she still sat diligently by the door, waiting for Mai's arrival. Every time she heard the slightest scurry or rumble from behind the door, Azula's heart would race. She stood up erect and straightened herself up as much as she could. She tried to look as beautiful as possible, despite not having the slightest idea of what she looked like after all of these months without a mirror. Azula refused to look anything less than perfect for her guest.

She knew to expect Mai around the time of her third meal. As soon as she had eaten, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and daintily set her tray aside. Then, she quickly crawled to the corner of the room furthest from the door, hiding herself as best as she could from the revealing light.

Mai walked the door accompanied by silence and a wrought iron chair. She sat down without much ado, straightened her skirt in her lap, and held her head erect. "Hello, Azula," she said simply.

Azula was never able to say a word. She glared at the gloomy girl, overcome with hate and confusion. Every day when Azula left she mulled every moment over why Mai would even bother coming. But then Mai would come, and she was more focused on her the event than the cause. Now, with each visit from the other woman, Azula regained more courage. She refused just to stand in the dark corner looking pretty; instead, she would cut Mai to ribbons with a tongue sharper than a dagger.

"New hair, Mai? You look like a hovelling peasant with it pinned up that way."

Mai just grinned. Azula couldn't help but think how hideous Mai looked when she smiled. She expected Mai to say something equally cutting in reply, but the wretched woman just kept smiling.

So Azula decided to try again. "I've heard you are just as loose as ever around my brother," she snapped. "Typical airhead heiress: Trying to make her way into the prince's bed. Don't tell me you came to tell me I'm becoming and auntie. Imagine those poor, ugly children"

Mai continued to smile humbly, and crossed her leg to jiggle her foot around. Good, Azula thought, she's breaking. Azula's scraggly nails picked incessantly at a string on her dress as she waited for Mai to reply.

Azula was about to open her mouth again to release another arsenal of insults when Mai said so quietly that Azula hardly heard, "Is there anything you need, Azula?"

Her chin dropped, utterly stunned by the outrageous question. Is there anything that she needed? Azula couldn't have forseen that question if it was written on Mai's ugly forehead. She took a wary step away from her despised guest, pressing her back against the cool wall. It was a trick! She knew this to be so. It was traditional among their culture to ask a person condemned to die their final wish. But she refused to even consider begging for inconsequential demands like all of the other pitiful criminals. She had once heard her mother whisper to Zuko that he must never forget who he was. Azula was princess of the Fire Nation, despite how far she had fallen. Her blood was richer than the whole world put together; there was _nothing_ she needed.

"You miserable wretch!" she spat at the girl sitting placidly in the chair. "You, a traitor spun by something as fickle as love, sent to ask me of my final request! What makes you think you have the right? You are the most disgusting, hateful…"

But Mai laughed. She laughed at her! A spark ignited in Azula's head, setting fire to an ocean of hate and despair. Before Mai could even inhale after her first giggle, Azula had an intense ball of fire aimed for the other woman's head. Mai silenced herself, but still maintaining her small smile, and jumped to her feet. She clutched Azula's wrist with a firm hand and forced her down to the ground with as much tact as Ty Lee. Mai lowered her face level with Azula's and kept her hands on her shoulders to keep her down.

"Who are you kidding, Azula?" Mai whispered naturally. "Do you really think the world wants you to die after all the trouble you caused? Of course not, so don't worry." Mai rose to her feet, the points of her shoes resting on Azula's knees, and looked down at her with heavily lidded eyes. "And besides, Zuko thinks there's hope for you; I don't know why, but he does. He told me that the doctors said that as soon as you settled down they could begin your treatment. But you always were stubborn." The girl paused, waiting for her words to settle.

"I guess I'll have to say it again, Azula. Is there anything you need?"

Again Azula's jaw dropped. She stared blankly at Mai's ashen eyes, feeling the hatred and the cold melt away. Mai waited patiently, but Azula was so paralyzed by disbelief that she couldn't respond if she wanted to. And she did want to. She wanted Mai leave; she wanted revenge on every person who walked the earth; she wanted this nightmare to end; she wanted to see the sun. Mai's expression was hard and emotionless as she gazed at Azula, and she saw that. There was nothing she could do for her. Azula shook her head.

"Just checking," Mai said. She retreated to the door and with a sharp command for the jailor, the door was opened and she walked out of Azula's dark life once again.

* * *

"Is there anything you need, Azula?"

"No."

"Just checking."

* * *

"Is there anything you need, Azula?"

Azula was still sitting in her dark corner, away from the elegantly dressed woman. Mai still sat daintily on the metal chair. The room was illuminated by glowing green rocks imported from the Earth Kingdom so she could see Mai's face, but only enough to keep Azula safe behind her mask of darkness. "Why do you care?" she mumbled out of the corner of her chapped mouth. Her knees were up to her chin, and she was thankful that her voice still sounded severe despite the condition of her body.

Mai looked at her finely manicured nails, obviously bored. "I care because Ty Lee cares. She always did have a soft heart; you never could change that. And like I said before-Zuko."

Azula started to guffaw before she could say anymore. She refused to even acknowledge her brother's trecherous name. She could see Mai narrow her eyes at her, and that gave her more satisfaction than it should. "You visit someone you hate on behalf of Ty Lee's petty whims? Awww, Mai, you do have a heart. All this time I thought you were a soulless rock."

Mai shrugged, not looking up as she picked at her nails. "It surprised me too. Truth is, I suppose I don't know why I'm here. Funny, after two weeks of these daily visits you'd think I'd come up with an excuse. Ah well, no use forgoing two weeks' tradition for the sake of indecisiveness. Is there anything you need, Azula?"

Azula scoffed and leaned forward on her hands and knees, scrutinizing her visitor incredulously. "You're just weak," Azula snapped. "You find yourself all alone then you come crawling back to me. Well news flash, ditzy, you dug yourself into your miserable rut. You ruined things for yourself! YOU…Where are you going? COME BACK HERE! I am Princess Azula, you would have been no one without me! MAI!"

The jailor escorted Mai out without another word.

* * *

It was two days before Mai visited again.

"Is there anything you need, _Princess _Azula," Mai said.

Azula intended to claw the woman's eyes out for being so crude with her, but Mai's face and tone were as expressionless as usual. "What would you do if one of these days I said 'Yes,'" Azula sneered from her corner.

Mai smiled. "Well let's find out shall we?"

Azula aimed well and spat on Mai's feet. "Thanks for that Mai, but no. It was considerate for you to ask," Azula hissed as she wiped her mouth free of saliva.

Mai grinned, genuinely. She then walked to the door to leave. "You are most welcome, Azula. I'm glad I could help."

As she was left in utter darkness again, Azula feared that she had used up her one and only wish. That would mean Mai wouldn't visit anymore. She would never see the face with which was associated more good memories than bad. She would never be cared for again, even if she didn't understand Mai's concern for her. Azula would be alone in darkness again forever. The very thought made her scream.

* * *

"Is there anything you need, Azula?"

"I need to know why you come here to see me every day."

"I don't know."

"Are you going to keep coming until you do?"

"Yes."

"Good."


End file.
